Rail end joint bar



3, 1937. F. J. WERNERET AL 2,089,104

RAIL END JOINT BAR Filed Dec. 5, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l r I W (575/4 Inventor By ZZOTQWJI;

Alt orney 1937- F. J. WERNER ET AL v v 2,089,104

RAIL END JOINT BAR Filed Dec. 5, 1931 s sheets-sheet 2 g 3, 1937- F. J. WERNER ET AL- 2,089,104

RAIL END JOINT BAR Filed Dec. 5, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Vrz'ah'oz of fiaZerances.

mawn 40M 7 Attorney Patented Aug. 3, 1937 were" uNirED STATES, PATENT RAIL" END JOINT BAR 7 Frank'J. Werner and Gilbert H. Werner, Portage Township, Porter County, Ind.

Application December 5, 1931, Serial No. 579,266

' 2 Claims. (o1. 238-210) Our invention relates to improvements in rail end joint bars and-it more especially consists of the features pointed out-in the claims.

The purpose of our invention is to provide a rail fastening'whiclr combinesa supporting tie plate and" self aligning-joint; thatin contradis-- tinction to prior usage does notattempt to support the adjacent ends of a pair of rails suspended in the :air but does definitely. support therails o at' their ends' byrestin'g the-base'on a cooperat-' ing tie plate-"that in 'awslmple and economical manner positively holds the' rail ends together rigidly 'in alignment .horizontallyand vertically producing arsmooth- Wheel tread free from the 5 -usualwpounding :and-frjarring to which railway rolling stock-is ordinarily subject and on-account of which railroads patrons are subjected to an noyance; thatrsecuresttheserresults withouthaving recourse to" the-impracticablemethod :of'weld-z ing-t-he rail ends fh-eretofore proposed; that entirely eliminates the :difiicultiespresent inthe use of varying dimensioned bars which in the process of manufacture cannotebe "madeto perfect sizes within :010 inch; that providesa rail -end support--that does not require horizontal bolts-etc hold the bars-and rail-ends in engagement with each other: that *does -not-attempt* to carry .the.

load down through the -joint bars but instead carries it directly-downward through the rail. web

onto the base-and thetieqplate beneath; and

selves toilthe specificrdetailsshownthereonand describedherein. .1 i,

I Eigure1is-amendelevation.of arail supported. 0 onitsnormalbase resting on .a cooperating tieplate n Fig. 2 is a similar elevationto Fig. 1 showing, supplemental fasteningmeans between thetie plate and the rail base. I 45 Fig-3 is a. diagrammatic side elevation showing astampedtie plate cambered slightly from its center, lengthwise towardeach end. F Fig. 4 is a side elevation of an assembled 'rail joint showing the tie plate put underve'r'tical 5o tension sufficient to bring 'itinto Contact with'the rail base throughout its length. Fig. 5 is a top plan- View of" a stamped tie plate; Fig. 6 is a perspectiveview of-adetached joint bar. 55' 'Figi 7 1s a"diagramma tic viewshowingxhow the usual range of tolerances bring about a large difference in the vertical alignment of the rail tread.

Fig. 8 is an end view of a rail associated with joining bars whichvhave a full bearing on top of the base and under-the rail'head specially adapted for curves.

In installing our rail jointwe may use whatever alternatives or equivalents of structure that the exigenciesof varying practical conditions may demand without=departing from the broad spirit of the invention. "r

.Heretofore great'stresses "have-been laid on the proportioning of joint barsand arranging their pointsof contact with the rails and-rthe 5 contour of the 'bars'to transmit =.the' wheel lead down through the bars. In our rstructure we" place entire dependence on the normalrbaseand web of the rail to carrythe varying loads passing over the rails;v 'By" placing the normal rail come the inherent shortcomings of rail joint structure without reaching a satisfactory'solution of this intensely*practical problem. No adequate provision has been made heretofore to overcome the presence of the usual tolerances of rolling mill practice in'respect of'the cross section of rails, and the related cross section'of joint bars so as toprevent these allowances becoming cumulative. I

In the design of railway'rails the obvious Support is comprised in the side flangesv 2 of the base 40 I joined to the rail tread 5 by a central web 4. This is made wide so as to have a considerable area to carry the load put onto the rail tread. In early railway practice the area ofthe base rested on a similar area of the wooden tie placed 5 beneath it. After prolonged trafficthebase of the rail indented a recess in the softwood of the tie. This produced a clearance that must be inevitably taken up for each passing of traflic. Tie plates have been brought into use to afiord a much larger bearing area on the face of the tie. As beneficial as-this practice has been-no adequate "provision has been, made; before ourinvention to efficiently provideample continuous supportfor adjacent rail ends. T-he fundamental necessity for a continuous metallic support reaching over several ties to cooperate with the normal rail support-its basehas been lost in the maze of the technical characteristics of splice bar cross sections. These have been designed to transmit the load through the bars instead of through the web of the rail onto its normal footing.

In the production of rails and joint bars or similar rolled articles very few manufacturers will guarantee to hold cross sectional dimensions within a tolerance of 0.010 inch. With this amount of variation to start with it is impossible under existing practice to make a perfect rail joint. This means that there'is an appreciable variation between the top of the base flange and the under side of the rail head, which in railway parlance, is called a fishing allowance at the points where a bar is to engage the rail. One rail may have a tolerance that is 0.010 inch small and the adjacent rail may be 0.010 inch large. Joint bars afilxed to such a rail combination are obviously 0.010 inch loose at the rail end whose tolerances is 0.010 inch large. It is immaterial how tightly the bars 9 are drawn against the rails, there will be a-total looseness of one ofthe rails amounting to 0.040 inch thus permitting the loose rail to move up and down with the passage of each car wheel. Because of this discrepancy the joints soon become battered and uneven. Even though long supporting tie plates made to reach over one or two ties have been proposed and used to support both rail ends at the joint so as to take the load strain off from the splice bars the results have not been entirely satisfactory which cause low spots to form at the rail joints, making the track uneven. This unevenness subjectsheavy rolling stock traveling at high speeds to an unnecessary degree of shock which is sure to increase the normal rate of depreciation and the attendant cost of repairs.

The reason that there is such a degree of tolerance in the production of rails etc., is the fact that such products are rolled hot and no rolling mill has yet reached a point of perfection in which slight differences of size are eliminated. For this reason we have devised our rail joint supports to overcome the evils pointed out. They will prolong the life of the rails because the rails need not be so frequently replaced. The cost of joint bars is also. reduced because by our method the bars 9 can be made of lighter cross section as they do not have to carry the train load. This load is almost entirely carried by the rail head 5 and the cooperating curved surfaces 8 and [3, tie plate 6, and the joint bars 9. In addition to these features there is a further saving in cost due to the fact that precise rolling operations can be eliminated as we do not need to make allowance for fishing fits in the use of our bars.

Our device provides safer joints than those used heretofore because we need not depend on horizontal bolts 26 to finally hold the bars 9 in close contact with the webs of the rails. Such bolts need only be used to align the rail ends horizontally and vertically before clamping the bars 9 to the the supporting tie plate 6. When this is done the horizontal bolts 26 may be removed because the rails are held by their normal base I. Indeed in many instances bolts 26 need not be used at all, in consequence of which the rail webs 4 will not be weakened by the presence of bolt holes. Under the prevailing practice horizontal bolts 26 have a tendency to work loose, hence the existence of myriads of nut lock fastenings. Aside from this in cases of accidental derailment the wheel flanges cannot shear off projecting bolt heads or the fastening nuts.

Even should we retain bolts 26, derailment will not put the track out of commission, because even though the bolts are sheared off the rails are still held intact. We provide a stamped up tie plate 6 with long girder-like ribs 1 standing upward on each side of the rail base I. This forms a very stiff plate which may be of lighter cross section than would otherwise be needed to withstand the stresses to which such plates are subjected.

Our combined tie plate and rail joint support is extremely simple. It is made of flat sheet stock. Two raised reinforcing and centering ridges 1 are formed, substantially as shown in Figures 1, 4, and 5. Raised bosses i8 may be formed near each comer. Adjacent these at their inner faces openings 24 are made through which bolts 20 project to hold the clamping disks 19. These disks engage the upper face 3 of the rail base flanges 2. to tie plates is made the subject of our copending application, Serial Number 558,296, filed August 20, 1931. Adjacent the openings 24 suitable holes are formed to receive screw spikes 2| to hold the tie plate 6 on the ties 22. The ridges 1 have beveled inner faces 8 which are engaged by beveled faces l3 of the splice bars 9.

The splice bars may be rolled to shape and cut to the required length. Each bar has a lengthwise upper flange I!) to engage the web 4 of the rail I. Along the lower edge a right angled flange i2 is formed. Its underside has a long bevel II and a short bevel l3. The former engages the beveled face 3 of the rail base 2. Adjacent the flange In the bars 9 may be thinned at H as shown in Figures 1, 6, and 8 to reduce weight and insure that the extreme upper edge Ill of the bar only engages the web 4 of the rail. Bolt holes !5 are formed in the angular feet l2 of the bars 9. These holes register with holes l6 formed in the tie plate 5. Bolts I! are inserted through holes Hi, from beneath. They pass upward through the holes I 5 in the splice bars. At the upper ends of these bolts nuts are placed. These nuts force the angular foot l2 toward the tie plate 6. At the same time the long bevels 3 and II and the short bevels 8 and. I3 force the flange l0 against the rail web 4.

The action of the splice bars 9, as they are drawn sidewise by the bolts l1 firmly and without the usual fishing allowances hold the rail ends in alignment in two planes and the rail positively on its own base under tension onto the tie plate. The rail ends meet at the raised portion 2! of the plate 6. From this point the upper surface of the plate is cambered or slightly beveled in two directions so as to leave a clearance 23 beneath the rail base, at each end of the tie plate. This feature, when the bolts I! are tightened so as to close the gap 23, places the rail ends under This method of fastening rails an initial tension which modifies or overcomes the tendency of the rail ends working up and down under the weight of passing traific as is common with ordinary splice bar fastenings.

Whenever rails are subjected to excessive side strains as on curves the splice bars 9 may be made wider so that the flange 25 will engage the underside of the rail head 5 as shown in Figure 8.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that we have solved the rail joint problem in an effective, economical and. simple manner so as to provide a permanent rail end support which is free from the defects of previous usage. The precautions we have taken in the development of our invention follow conservative engineering practices. It is not alone the economy in production but the further economy secured through a reduction in depreciation of the rail portion of railway road beds. The entire purpose of our invention is to continuously hold the meeting ends of the rails onto the tie plate and at the same time keep the rail treads in alignment horizontally and vertically by absolutely supporting the rails on their own base, which is the only logical support for any rail.

What we claim is:

1. A combined tie plate and rail joint support, comprising a rolled plate, a pair of parallel ridges stamped upward on the plate, a plurality of bosses also stamped upward on said plate, the ridges having beveled surfaces facing each other, a plurality of recesses formed on the underside of the plate adjacent the bosses and connected to openings in the plate, and a slight camber or slope on the upper face of the plate leading lengthwise from the center toward each end.

2. In rail end supports, a tie plate extending over a plurality of ties, a pair of rail ends terminating approximately central of the length of the plate and resting thereon, a slight bevel on the plate from the center toward each end beneath the base of the rails, a pair of beveled ridges on the plate parallel to the rails, a joint bar on each side of the rails engaging the ridges on their inner faces and means for securing said bars to the plate to draw the plate into engagement with the base of the rails throughout the length of the plate, separate means for clamping the plate to the rail flanges, and separate means for securing the tie plate to the ties.

FRANK J. WERNER. GILBERT H. WERNER. 

